“The Magic Tree House #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark,” by Mary Pope Osborne.
Random House, New York, 1992, 66 pages, Grades 3-4.
Finding chapter books for beginning readers is always a difficult issue. Beginners do not have highly developed reading skills, but have a high desire to start reading. One way authors attend to this need is to create books based on a formula. Well-known formula series include the Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew books, or The Babysitter’s Club. Formula books are written to create high interest rather than high literature. As a result, they are the perfect choice for children in the middle grades.
Mary Pope Osborne has written a highly-acclaimed series, The Magic Tree House books. The protagonists, 7-year-old Annie and her 8-year-old brother Jack experience many adventures through a magical tree house.
Annie sees it first; a long rope ladder, hanging down from a tree in the forest. As she looks upward, Annie spies a treehouse. She calls to Jack as she begins climbing the ladder leading to the treehouse. Ever cautious, the studious Jack tells her to be careful because it is both dangerous and also doesn’t belong to them.
Disregarding his advice, Annie climbs into the treehouse and shouts for Jack to join her. Reluctantly, he follows his sister up the ladder. Inside, they find all sorts of books, old and new. They find one about their home in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. Jack picks up a book about dinosaurs and says he wishes he could see dinosaurs. At this moment, the treehouse becomes magical and begins spinning in the air and travelling through time.
The next thing the children know, they have landed among dinosaurs. Annie immediately begins exploring the area as Jack takes copious notes on everything they see. Soon, a flying reptile lands next to them; a Pteranodon. While Jack is terrified, Annie soon begins talking to the huge reptile and petting it. They start exploring the area and quickly come upon a giant Triceratops. Jack hurriedly looks up the beast in his dinosaur book and discovers that Triceratops are vegetarians. This relieves his fear as Annie proceeds to feed the dinosaur flowers and returns to the treehouse.
But a man-eating Tyrannosaurus Rex appears. Separated from the treehouse, Jack’s life is in danger. Annie comes down from the treehouse and whispers something to the Pteranodon. Jack has only moments before the Tyrannosaurus reaches him. A flying shadow suddenly appears. What happens?
Mary Osborne Pope has written many fine books in the field of children’s literature. She frequently writes about myths and tall tales but will sometimes write realistic fiction. The Magic Tree House series is quite famous and has been widely used by librarians, teachers and parents for the last 25 years. Jack and Annie meet many magical people during their many adventures. The greatness of the series lies in the fact that it instills a passionate love for reading in younger children. Additionally, the author helps children develop their imaginations and problem-solving skills.
You cannot miss with these books and I hope you and your family get a chance to read some of these titles.
